Colorado lawmakers have passed an end to Colorado’s two-tier justice system. Now, Gov. Jared Polis just needs to sign House Bill 1147.
The Denver Post’s reporters highlighted the injustice of allowing municipal courts to carry much harsher sentences for non-violent, petty crimes than state courts in a series of stories last year.
The Post found that not only were people spending months in jail for minor retail thefts that would have resulted in only a few days sentences in state courts, but that indigent or poor defendants weren’t guaranteed access to an attorney in municipal court, resulting in longer sentences without any representation.
House Bill 1147 would prohibit municipal courts from having harsher minimum sentences than state courts, thus reducing the temptation for law enforcement and prosecutors to funnel cases to municipal courts to get harsher sentences without facing tough legal counsel.
Of 468 theft and trespassing convictions reviewed by The Denver Post, defendants going through courts in Colorado’s 10 largest cities served an average of five times more jail time than those in state courts. Some may argue that the difference is only a matter of days. After all, these sentences are less than a full year under Colorado law. But a day or two in jail can matter to a defendant trying to get out to care for children or to return to work, get a dog out of an animal shelter, or even just hoping to salvage some of their possessions that were left behind in a homeless camp or shelter.
Polis has an opportunity to reinforce the more lenient state sentencing laws that were passed in 2021. Nonviolent crimes should have repercussions, but we’re not convinced the deterrent of longer jail stays is nearly as effective as letting someone get on with their lives, and hopefully get back on track.
Polis was right in 2020 when he asked the Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice to go through the criminal code to update sentencing guidelines, calling for them to be “rational, just and consistent so that the punishment fits the conduct.”
We hope he heeds those words and considers that without House Bill 1147 our sentencing is neither consistent nor just. While the Colorado Supreme Court is considering the legality of the disparities between state and city courts, lawmakers have addressed the issue head-on.
There is no need to wait for the courts to rule. Already, state law caps the length of sentences for ordinance violations at 364 days. That cap doesn’t infringe on cities’ ability to govern themselves any more than bringing sentencing in line with the state’s maximum penalties would.
Our justice system cannot be arbitrary if Americans are to maintain faith in the courts. The circumstances of every crime are different, and judges are provided with a broad latitude in sentencing, weighing someone’s risk to society, their remorse, and whether they are repeat offenders.
However, judges have also always had guardrails placed on their sentencing. We can find no valid reason for municipal judges and state court judges to have different guardrails when considering the same crime with the same extenuating or aggravating details and facts.
Sign up for Sound Off to get a weekly roundup of our columns, editorials and more.
To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.
Originally Published: